


Feeling Bonely

by ayeue



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: "lol friends who needs friends", Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), No real plot here, Short Chapters, beware of the swearing if you don't like that, characters are in highschool, good thing we have sans here to help, lighthearted?, probably? maybe?, reader is also lowkey lonely, reader is lowkey edgy, reader swears, sans just wants friends ok, school au because... why not, so uh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:47:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23860036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ayeue/pseuds/ayeue
Summary: You were just minding your own business, really. Watching people pass by. Watching the clouds lazily drift away. You were an observer; you never engaged in what you observed. No, it was much easier to just stand at a distance and watch.And then, he was there.
Relationships: Sans (Undertale)/Reader
Comments: 11
Kudos: 61





	1. Umbrella

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [You actually thought I was a teacher?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20221225) by [Two_Sour_Noodles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Two_Sour_Noodles/pseuds/Two_Sour_Noodles). 



So far, the usual.

Nothing was new, just as you liked it. It was easier that way - more predictable, comfortable. No need to worry about doing something wrong, or breaking something.

Yes…

Observing was just the best.

Today, you were watching the clouds. It was a rather cloudy day and, well, you were about ninety-percent sure that it was going to rain any moment now.

Not that you cared.

The rain was nice. Sure, the aftermath absolutely _sucked_ , but hey, you only lived life once, right?

Something about just lying on a grassy hill was soothing. Most of the time, nobody bothered you. And, well, those who did…

You wouldn’t tell anyone this, but you’ve perfected your glare into a truly terrifying one.

Being bothered was annoying. People were just so tiring to deal with. They were impossible to predict; they just… did as they pleased. Which you did _not_ appreciate. You didn’t fear a lot of things (okay, maybe that was a tiny lie) but, people? Their unpredictability was… startling.

That was why you didn’t engage with them. You would much rather watch over them from a distance, happily uninvolved. You wouldn’t get caught up in drama, or _feelings_. Not if you stayed away.

* * *

_“Hey, hey.”_

_“...We’ll be friends forever, right?”_

* * *

Being alone was easy. Effortless. Loneliness? Pah, who cared. This feeling of tranquillity you had trumped the thing called ‘loneliness’.

You didn’t need people.

You didn’t need… her.

Nope.

 _Ha, wow, I sound edgy_ , you mused, shifting your position so that your arms were now behind your head.

Sighing in contentment, you closed your eyes.

_Aah, yes. This is the life._

You felt a single drop of water fall onto your cheek. It had started to rain.

 _Maybe I’ll take a nap,_ you thought idly, letting the continuous drops of rain fall onto you. In a way, it was soothing.

A reminder that you were still here.

You slowly felt yourself drift into dreamland...

...Or not.

“HEY THERE! YOU LOOK FAMILIAR…”

Suddenly, the rain stopped. Yet, you could hear it.

Oh, what a _bother_. Why was someone disturbing you now? Could they not see that you wanted to be left alone?

You crack one eye open, and… you refuse to admit that you were startled.

A very skeletal skull watched you, curiosity clear in his eye sockets as he held an umbrella over you.

You, being you, sent him the most deadly glare you could muster. And much to your satisfaction, he seemed startled by that.

Your satisfaction was shortlived.

“OH, RIGHT! I’VE SEEN YOU AROUND THE SCHOOL I GO TO!” the skeleton beams, much to your irritation.

Annoyance laced your voice. “Whaddya want?”

“YOU’RE GOING TO GET SICK IF YOU STAY HERE!”

You waited for him to make a point.

When he didn’t continue, you spoke, “So?”

“YOU SHOULDN’T LAY HERE WHEN IT’S RAINING!” he scolded. And you felt like a scolded child rolled your eyes.

“Your point being?”

“...YOU’RE NOT CONCERNED???”

God, would this kid just. Go away already???

“No. Now, kindly fuck off.”

“LANGUAGE!” the skeleton reprimanded, sitting down next to you.

_What the fuck._

Warily, you eye him. “What are you doing.”

“CONQUERING THE EVIL IN THIS LAND AND PREVENTING MASS DESTRUCTION, OBVIOUSLY.”

You bite back a startled laugh.

“I’M SITTING NEXT TO YOU, OF COURSE!”

You couldn’t help but notice that he wasn’t fully covered by the umbrella he held. No, he angled it towards you so it covered your upper half.

“No, that’s not-” you huffed out, slowly sitting up. “Why are you sitting there?”

“BECAUSE I WANT TO,” came his matter-of-fact answer.

_What is up with this skeleton monster???_

You narrowed your eyes in suspicion. Completely and utterly nonplussed, the skeleton stared right back.

“I’M SANS, BY THE WAY!”

“Did I ask?” you scoffed, idly noting that he was strangely expressive for a skeleton.

“NOPE, JUST THOUGHT THAT I WOULD PUT THAT OUT THERE.”

Then, a silence fell between the two of you.

_Okay, let’s think._

Who is he?

_Sans. A skeleton monster._

Well, that wasn’t helpful whatsoever. Next question.

Why is he here?

_No fucking clue. He just… up and sat down. Next to me?_

Wow. This guy was weird.

_He mentioned that I went to the same school as him. Must’ve seen me wandering around alone at some point in time._

_...Is he pitying me?_

“Just so you know,” you started, staring at the grass in front of your feet. “I don’t need your pity. If that’s what this is, then you can go.”

“WELL, SEEING AS MY BEING HERE ISN’T DUE TO PITY, BUT A DESIRE TO GET TO KNOW YOU, I WILL STAY RIGHT HERE!”

_???_

What was _up_ with this skeleton? You had half a mind to just straight-up hit him with how persistent he was being. You were dropping hints left and right that you _didn’t_ want him here. Not at all.

Seeing as he wouldn’t take the hint, you say it to him outright. “I don’t want you here.”

You would die before you admit that you felt a little guilty when his expression turned a bit sad.

He recovered quickly, though, shoving the handle of the umbrella into your hands. “OKAY! I’LL SEE YOU AROUND, AND I’LL GET YOUR NAME NEXT TIME!”

And so, he bounded off, leaving you in the rai-

Wait a moment.

His umbrella was left here.

You were conflicted. _Do I? Go after him? God, but I don’t wanna talk to him again._

You remained seated, one hand wrapped around the handle of the blue umbrella.

Not that you would _ever_ admit it, but you almost wanted him to come back.

“...Whatever,” you muttered lowly, sitting on the grass for a minute longer before getting up. Umbrella clutched in your hand, you started to slowly but surely make your way home.

_What a weird skeleton._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello hello!! thank you for reading ^^ this'll probably just be a bunch of short encounters with good ol' swap!sans, no real plot aha
> 
> go and read the work that inspired me to write this!! it's cool and weghwewek haha wow i'm w e a k for swap characters, huh...


	2. Lunch Tacos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You go to school today.
> 
> And almost regret it.
> 
> A skeleton finds you, though, and makes you feel better.

Today, you went to school. You were getting bored with wandering around, so you thought:  _ hey! Why not try seeing what’s been up at the school? It’s been weeks since I last went to school. _

It certainly did not have anything to do with the fact that you wanted to return a certain blue umbrella to a certain skeleton monster.

In hindsight, you probably should’ve realized that you would’ve stuck out. 

_ Wow, I’m dumb. _

Much to your distaste, rumours had spread about you. In all honesty, they were fair. You could probably see why they started.

It totally didn’t have anything to do with the threats you made at the one girl who tried to talk to you.

_ Huh, maybe I should’ve tried being friendly… _

Ha, that was a funny thought. It wasn’t like the rumours hurt, no. You were fine with being the violent, rebellious girl. The one people associated with gangs, even though you had never actually beaten someone up, not physically…

The rumours didn’t hurt.

_ Pfft, nah. They’re to be expected, I brought ‘em upon myself. _

It was fine that people were a bit wary. Those who  _ did _ try to approach you, well. You shooed them away with your ever-so reliable glare. After all, you probably wouldn’t go back to the school for a while after today.

Why did you even hope? It’s still the same. It’s not like you tried to change anything. Of course, they’d look at you like that.

You let out a long, suffering sigh as you stretched. You eyed the gate of the school. Wouldn’t hurt to just ditch, right? It was lunch now, so it would be a great time to go. You hadn’t found him, not yet. You’ll just have to keep the umbrella, then.

Your guilty conscience wouldn't kick your butt about this. Nope. You were a free spirit. You didn't care if you didn’t return something generously left in your hands.

Maybe you cared. And felt bad for holding onto it, and just watching him bound off in the pouring rain umbrella-less.

Yeah… you’ll just leave.

“That’d be a great idea,” you mused aloud to yourself.

“WHAT WOULD BE A GREAT IDEA?”

You absolutely _do_ _not_ let out a startled yell as you definitely _do not_ almost fall off the bench you were sitting on.

“Wha - Sans! it’s you again!” you huffed out, pointing at him -  _ Sans  _ \- accusingly.

“YUP!” he  _ grinned _ at you. “IT’S ME. I’M GLAD YOU REMEMBERED MY NAME!”

It had been about two days since your first encounter with Sans the Skeleton. You had completely forgotten about him… damn. If you had remembered him, you probably would’ve tried harder to avoid him.

Just as he did on that day precisely two days ago, he sat down next to you and started to unpack… something. His lunch, probably.

...Those tacos looked good.

“HEH, DO YOU WANT SOME?”

“Nnnno,” you denied, hesitantly.

The freaking bastard took a very large and deliberate bite of his food, making sounds like he was on cloud nine.

_ The tacos can’t be that good, anyway. _

But… you also didn’t bring lunch. You didn’t really bother.

“I’M FINE WITH SHARING,” he hummed, grinning at you. “TRUST ME, THEY’RE  _ VERY _ GOOD.”

“I don’t want any,” you deny once more.

“WHAT A PITY. GUESS I’LL JUST HAVE TO EAT THE OTHER TACO. IT’S REAL GOOD, TOO,” he spoke, finishing off the taco. “I MUST COMMEND YOU, BEING ABLE TO WATCH ME EAT SUCH GOOD FOOD WHILE YOU, YOURSELF, ARE HUNGRY.”

_ Do  _ **_not_ ** _ give in- _

You were pretty sure your stomach was threatening to grumble.

“PFF… AHAHA!” the skeleton  _ laughed _ at your expression. As he took a taco, he pushed it towards you. “YOUR EXPRESSION. LOOKS ABSOLUTELY BETRAYED. HAVE IT, I INSIST.”

“..It does not,” you huffed, staring rather intensely at the taco before taking it slowly after placing the blue umbrella down. You examined it from all angles, expecting there to be… well, you weren’t entirely sure what you were looking for.

“YOU’LL ENJOY IT MORE IN YOUR MOUTH.”

You huffed, “Shut up.”

And so, you took a small bite.

It was… indescribable.

Indescribably  _ good. _

What the hell? You didn’t remember tacos being  _ this _ good? How would you even describe this?????

You found yourself wolfing the thing down in five seconds flat.

When was the last time you decided to have something good? Something that wasn’t just.. lazily made cup noodles?

You glared at the skeleton when he handed you a napkin, wiping your face.

“Don’t say anything.”

“MWEHEHEH, NO PROMISES.”

Then, the two of you fell into a  comfortable silence.

“SOOO…” he started. “ARE YOU GOING TO GIVE ME YOUR NAME?”

“No.”

“THEN, I’LL JUST CALL YOU PRINCESS.”

You stared at him incredulously. What about you made him want to call you that?

“Don’t, that’s stupid.”

“WELL, IT CAN’T BE HELPED!” he sighed melodramatically. “AFTER ALL, I DON’T HAVE YOUR NAME.”

“Why?”

“WHY WHAT, PRINCESS?”

“Wha - don’t call me that!” you scowled, leaning away from him as you crossed your arms. “Why are you, I dunno. This?? Talking to me? Are you not worried at all that I’m going to hit you or something?”

“YOU WON’T,” he said with easy confidence. “YOUR SOUL IS GOOD. YOU WON’T HURT ME.”

“Don’t put so much faith in someone you barely know,” you rolled your eyes, resisting the urge to ask about whatever he said regarding… souls? “I could be a bad person.”

“EVEN THEN, EVERY BAD PERSON CAN BECOME A GOOD ONE!” he smiled widely at you. “EVEN IF YOU’RE A BAD PERSON (WHICH I DEFINITELY KNOW THAT YOU’RE NOT), PRINCESS, I’M SURE YOU CAN BECOME A GOOD ONE!”

_ Yeesh, his optimism. _

“THAT, AND I’M PRETTY SURE A BAD PERSON WOULDN’T RETURN MY UMBRELLA TO ME,” he stated casually.  _ Oh, right.  _

“Weirdo,” you grumbled, picking up the umbrella and shoving it into his gloved hands.

“IN THE BEST WAY, JUST FOR YOU, PRINCESS!” he responded confidently, putting the umbrella down on the bench.

Did he just wink?  _ How did he wink??? Magic? _

Monsters surfaced about… a year ago? Maybe two? You had never really engaged with them before now. They were like people, so therefore you avoided them too. They were pretty interesting with how they brought… magic onto the surface.

Though, you didn’t know a lot about it yet. Never bothered asking because of obvious reasons.

“I  _ swear _ ,” you groaned. “There’s no way you haven’t heard my name from one of the rumours. Stop calling me..  _ that _ . And stop flirting.”

“THOSE WERE ONLY RUMOURS! I HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING IF THAT’S YOUR ACTUAL NAME,” he shrugged. “THEREFORE! I’LL JUST CALL YOU PRINCESS!”

_ I wonder if I just leave… he’ll go. _

“AND PFFSH, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE SAYING. FLIRTING? I’M JUST BEING FRIENDLY TOWARDS SOMEONE WHO DESERVES IT!”

That was… definitely not flattering. Nope. You didn’t feel anything  _ other _ than annoyance. Nope. No sir.

Maybe…

Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to try to talk to him.

_ Oh shit, am I going… soft??? So quickly? _

_ No. _

_ No, I refuse. _

Before now, you never really talked to anyone. Not after… well, that wasn’t important.

Mostly because your glares were enough to ward away anyone who tried to talk to you. But this one? He was… weird. 

“You…”

Hesitation.

_ This is a bad idea, I should just get up and leave. _

_ Yes, that’s what I should do. Won’t get roped up into… whatever this is going to be. _

“...really want to know me? Talk to me??”

You really couldn’t help the confusion in your voice. The clear question of  _ ‘Why would you ever want to?’ _ remaining unsaid.

“OF COURSE.”

“But  _ why?” _ you asked insistently. 

“BETTER QUESTION, PRINCESS!” he grinned at you teasingly. “WHY NOT? WHY SHOULDN’T I TALK TO YOU? I ENJOY BEING AROUND YOU!”

“Did someone put you up to this?” you squinted at him, trying to find some indicator of a lie in his cheerful expression. So far, you have been everything  _ but _ nice to him. “A teacher? To try to get me to come to school?”

“NOPE. I HAVEN’T BEEN PURPOSELY SEEKING YOU OUT!” he stated. Then paused. “WELL, NOT THE FIRST TIME WE’VE MET, ANYWAY. THAT WAS JUST A COINCIDENCE!”

“And you were trying to find me after how I treated you,” you stated, skeptical.

“I MAY HAVE HEARD SOMETHING ABOUT AN,” a pause as his fingers made quotes, voice teasing. “EDGY LONER GIRL WHO WILL BEAT ANYONE UP IF THEY LOOK AT HER FUNNY. SOUNDED JUST LIKE YOU!”

“Seriously?” you stared at him, a flat expression on your face. “Are you calling me edgy?”

“WELL, GIVEN OUR INTERACTIONS SO FAR, YOU DO GIVE THAT IMPRESSION!” he smiled, absolutely no ill intent in his seemingly permanent grin. “I CAN ALSO SEE WHY PEOPLE THINK YOU WOULD BEAT THEM UP, THOUGH I KNOW YOU WOULDN’T! YOUR GAZE CAN BE VERY SCARY!”

“Not scary enough, it seems,” you grumbled.

“MWEHEHEH! YOUR GLARES ARE VERY GOOD. MAKES ME WONDER WHETHER OR NOT YOU’VE PRACTICE THEM IN A MIRROR!”

You felt your cheeks flush in embarrassment a little from the  accurate guess.

“Of course not! I’m not some… dork! Who does that!”

He laughed in amusement, and…

Well, this was nice.

Being able to finally talk to someone. It wasn’t as… scary? As you had thought it would be.

The two of you eventually fell into comfortable chatter.

Okay, fine.

So maybe you were warming up to this bizarre skeleton. Just a little. He wasn’t as bad as you made him out to be in your head...

You end up telling him your name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yessir, sans is capable of cooking- i headcanon all papyruses to be naturally bad at cooking and all the sanses to be naturally good at cooking!
> 
> wkeghwe am i writing swap!sans okay??? i'm always worrying about characterization :')


	3. Libraries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You decide to make a visit to the library.
> 
> And guess who pops up.

Curiosity had driven you to finally enter your local library and research monsters. You had always been curious before, but now?

Well, let's just say that you really wanted to know how the hell Sans was able to make such… expressive expressions. 

And you would _ never _ ask Sans outright questions like these. Questions that indicate some sort of interest in the skeleton. You could already hear the infuriating teasing -

“OOH, PRINCESS! CURIOUS ABOUT MONSTERS, I SEE,” Sans said, standing behind you as he peered over your shoulder at the book you held. “COULD IT BE BECAUSE OF… ME?”

Yeah, that’s exactly what he would say-

“FUCK!” you screeched, backing into the shelf as you heard a faint, irritated shushing sound. No doubt the librarian shushing the two of you.

You grumble out a quiet ‘sorry’ as Sans smiled sheepishly.

“So, whatcha up to, princess?” he asked in a quiet voice you didn't know he was capable of making.

You rolled your eyes at the nickname. Even after telling him your name, he still used ‘princess’ for you from time to time.

“What are _ you  _ doing here?” you questioned, snapping the book shut and holding it behind you. “Don’t you still have classes?”

“Actually, school was out a while ago!” Sans answered. “I’ve been in the library for a while. You must've been really interested in what you were reading!”

_ Oh damn, really? _

A quick glance to the side at the clock mounted on the wall answered you: yes really. It would seem that you had lost track of the time.

Not the first time it had happened; it was something that occurred frequently. After all, you had no real reason to pay any attention to the time. The only sense of time you had was whether or not it was day or night. Which… you only guessed based on how bright it was outside.

“Not particularly,” you answered.

A complete and utter lie. You were pretty intrigued by the book. It was talking about souls and whatnot. You may or may not have gotten distracted by the book while you were searching in the library.

It seemed that there were different soul colours, each with a trait to accompany them. Every soul was unique. A person’s soul reflected their entire being.

You wondered, for a brief second, what your soul would look like.

“Sure, if that's what you insist!” Sans spoke up, interrupting your thoughts.

“You don’t sound convinced,” you huffed.

He simply shrugged with that wide grin of his.

“But, y’know,  _ hypothetically _ speaking, if you  _ were _ interested!”

“Hypothetically?” you questioned, narrowing your eyes at him.

“Yeeep! Hypothetically! You could totally just ask me about monsterkind.”

It was…

...really stupid.

There was nothing hypothetical about this situation, not at all. But, y’know…  _ hypothetically… _

You were  _ curious _ . And you wanted to know.

“S’that so,” you muttered. “.....Hypothetically - and I  _ mean _ hypothetically! - if I. Wanted to know how the hell you… I dunno, do things? With your face? Like? Is the bone malleable? Isn’t it just… a skull?? How does it  _ move _ like that? Hypothetically speaking.”

“Well,” he mused,  _ definitely _ chuckling at your wording. “ _ Hypothetically _ , I would answer: magic!”

You stared blankly at him.

“That’s??? It??? Just… magic?”

“Some us monsters are made of magic, more than some others,” he started, now searching the shelf behind you. “Skeleton monsters like myself are pretty much all magic.”

You move to the side, watching.

“We may  _ resemble _ a human skeleton, but we’re not actually a human skeleton! We’re just a magical skeleton, so we don’t behave how the skeletons inside of you humans do.”

Uh-oh. He was flashing a cheeky smile towards you.

“ _ Tibia  _ honest, I don’t get it all myself.”

You stared. Stared for a good minute or so.

And then let out a long, suffering groan.

“Oh.  _ No _ ,” you huffed, bringing the book in your hand up to hit your head against. “You  _ pun _ .”

“Mweheheh, I certainly do!” he smirked mischievously. “Why, was the pun not that  _ humerus _ to you? Even if it  _ was _ that bad, you shouldn’t  _ skull _ -k around, (Y/n)!”

“NO,” you whisper-scream, visibly cringing . “Oh my  _ god _ .”

Sans did that strange laugh of his, pulling out a book and handing it to you. Eyeing it suspciously, you glanced over to him.

“Hey, hey.”

Oh no. It was the smirk again.

“You look like you’re going to…  _ book _ it.”

If you weren’t in a library, you wouldve screamed. One-hundred percent.

You searched for where you had pulled the book on souls out and slid it back into its slot. Then, you promptly started to head out.

“Heh - wait, hold on!” he chuckled, following you. “This book is good. Information about monsters. You know…”

A wink, as if the two of you were exchanging some super secret.

“For when you’re  _ hypothetically _ curious about our kind.”

He handed you the book (read: shoved it into your hands) with an amused expression.

You whispered out.

“Thank you.”

You had no idea if he caught it, but you  _ refuse _ to repeat yourself.

“Anyway, why  _ are _ you here?” you asked him, holding the fairly thick book in your arms. “Never answered that question.”

“Huh! Guess I didn’t,” he responded with a shrug. “I had a research project. Came here and, well, I got distracted by you!”

You arched a brow. “Then, shouldn’t you be working on that instead of, well, this?”

“Probably!” he agreed, not moving an inch from his current spot.

“Go do it,” you stated bluntly.

“But I don’t know when I’ll run into you again!” he spoke, almost pouting. “The project can wait! I can finish it later today.”

“Go do your work, you dork.”

Silence.

That made you suspicious.

“Fine then!” he spoke, and you could already hear the ‘only if’ coming. “...Oooonly if I can hang out with you some more next time we meet!”

_ Easy. I’ll just never see you again! _

For some reason, that little thought… hurt.

“Okay, sure. Whatever will get you to leave me alone,” you sighed, stepping away to make your way to the counter.

He didn’t follow after you as you reached the counter.

You would never admit to Sans that you were smiling, just a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's not enough fluff >:c
> 
> how do i write fluff aa-
> 
> i'm also slowly running out of pre-written chapters >.> but yk all good, they're relatively short, so... and i have absolutely no self-control when it comes to writing...


	4. Talking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's back again, and this time, the two of you just... talk.
> 
> It's nice.

It had been a week since you had last seen Sans. Which was… fair. You have been moving around lately, never staying in one place longer than an hour.

~~ You sort of missed him, even with that nickname he still called you from time to time, and how energetic he was- ~~

Today, you had returned to your favourite spot on the same ol’ hill you always laid on. You wanted to relax after wandering around so much the past few days.

You opened one of your eyes, watching the sky. A cloudy day - it wasn’t the sort of day where it looked like the clouds were ready to rain. The clouds were simply passing by - if you had to wager a guess, you would probably guess that they would be gone later on in the day.

“OH, YOU’RE IN THIS SPOT AGAIN!”

You remain unmoving, closing the one eye you opened again as you feel… well, how did you feel?

~~ You were excited to hear a familiar voice. ~~

Mildly annoyed. You decided to stick with that one.

You're still not very in tune with your emotions, immediately rejecting anything that made you feel... out of character.

“Hm. It’s you,” came your response.

“SURE IS, (Y/N)!”

You spoke, making sure to coat your voice in sarcasm. “Lucky me.”

“SARCASM NOTED!” he grinned widely. With a sigh, you opened your eyes and lo and behold. He was peering over you, just as he did the first time you two had met. “SO!”

“So,” you echoed, sitting up when he moved to sit next to you.

“IT’S BEEN A WEEK! I’VE MISSED YOU!”

“Pff, sure, whatever you say,” you responded, a hint of disbelief in your tone. “What do you want this time?”

“AW, COME ON, DON’T TELL ME YOU FORGOT!”

“Uh.”

“OUR DEAL!” he grinned.  _ Uh oh, what deal? _

Did you sell your soul to this guy??? You did a lot of things that you tended to forget about…

Hey. Selling your soul to someone wasn’t  _ that _ out of question! You had, uh. Done it once. In your defense, you had been incredibly exhausted and probably delirious…

But that was a story for another time. It wasn’t like you  _ actually _ sold your soul (though… the series of misfortunate events that happened after that weird encounter made you worry??).

“Deal,” you echoed once again.

_ Think, think, think. _

_ When was the last time I talked to this guy again- _

_ Oh. _

That deal.

You huffed, letting yourself fall back down onto the grass. “Right. That deal. You do realize that you probably didn’t have to make a deal regarding that?”

“ARE YOU SAYING..?? THAT YOU WOULD’VE HUNG OUT WITH ME ANYWAY?” he asked, happiness in his voice.

...Oh-

“Nooo comment,” you shrugged (as best as you could, lying down on the ground). “Can we just nap here? That’s hanging out, technically-”

“NOOO, PRINCESS! YOU SHOULDN’T NAP IN SUCH OPEN PLACES, WHO KNOWS WHAT KINDS OF PEOPLE WILL COME BY???”

“Annoying ones,” you answer easily. “That I usually scare off soon enough. Or, uh. Until you were a thing.”

“STILL, THAT’S NOT GOING TO WORK FOREVER!! SEE, YOU DIDN’T WARD ME AWAY!”

Fair.

“Eh, I’ll just deal with whatever if whatever happens. That’s what I’m doin’ with you, isn’t it?”

“BUT I’M FRIENDLY! WHAT IF I WASN’T? I COULD’VE…” a dramatic pause. “STACKED THIRTY HOT CATS ON YOU!”

Strangely enough, he looked amused, as if he was… recalling a memory?

That’s… strange.

“How tragic,” you lamented, an arm going to cover your eyes. “You could’ve left me alone with free food. What a horrible thing to do.”

“INDEED!” he agreed solemnly. “BUT!! HOLD ON, DON’T YOU THINK THAT I DON’T NOTICE YOU TRYING TO DISTRACT ME!!!”

That hadn’t been your intention, actually. Not at all.

But you roll with it, “Whoops.”

“NOW, LET US GO FORTH!” he proclaimed dramatically. You lift your arm from your eyes and watch him stand. You were confident that if the guy had a cape, it would be flapping in the non-existant wind to match his current pose. “ON A JOURNEY TO…”

A pause.

“WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO???”

“Here.”

You sighed internally, waiting for him to shake his head vehemently. He would probably drag you out to somewhere tiring-

“OKAY!” he responded easily, plopping down right next to you.

That was… unexpected.

“You don’t have anywhere you want to go?” you asked him, mildly suspicious. “Thought you would, I dunno, drag me off to somewhere.”

“WELL, THAT WOULDN’T BE VERY NICE!” he responded. “IF YOU WANT TO STAY HERE, THEN THAT’S FINE WITH ME!! I JUST WANTED TO TALK TO YOU SOME MORE, REALLY.”

You weren’t going to complain if you could just stay in your spot.

Just being in his presence was nice. He was pushy sometimes, but he wasn’t  _ overly _ so. In the end, you always ended up… liking the conversation he made with you.

Yeah, okay, you were definitely starting to break the rules you had set out for yourself.

You needed to start being… ruder. That would probably drive him away.

“THIS PLACE REALLY IS NICE, HUH!”

...But he was so nice to you. And you didn’t feel all that pressured to, well, do anything around him. Not really.

“Mm. There’s a reason this place is one of my favourites,” you mumbled.

“CLOUDS ARE REALLY NICE,” he started. “THE SUN IS, TOO! THE MOON AND STARS AS WELL…”

You didn’t interrupt him.

“WE DIDN’T HAVE A LOT TO LOOK AT IN THE UNDERGROUND. NOTHING DOWN THERE COULD REALLY BE A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE SKY.”

Slowly, hesitantly, you ask.

“Did you like it down there? Underground?”

A conflicted expression.

Maybe you shouldn’t have asked-

“IT WAS… FINE,” he responded, gaining a faraway expression. Then, he smiled widely. “BUT I’M SURE YOU DON’T WANT TO HEAR ME TALK AND TALK ABOUT THAT! WOULD YOU MIND IF I ASKED YOU QUESTIONS??”

You hesitated. Did you mind?

Part of you did.

“Sure, whatever,” came your reluctant response. “I won’t answer anything I don’t want to, though.”

“THAT’S FINE!” he nodded understandingly. 

Immediately, he hit you with a rough question.

“SO, WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?”

Just because you have had nobody to talk to about, well, your own life, you were… tempted. To tell him.

But you barely know the guy.

No real reason to spill your lifestory.

“Eh, no real reason. Guess I’m just the kinda person who wants to do whatever they want,” you shrugged. A… kind of truth? It was a very small truth, it was barely part of the reason you ran around like you did.

You don’t think he believes you.

“NEATO! HEY, SINCE I ASKED YOU A QUESTION, WANNA ASK ME SOMETHING?” he asked, deciding to not pry. “THIS WOULD BE A GOOD WAY TO GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER!”

“Bold of you to assume I wanna know you better.”

He just flashes a cheeky, knowing grin.

_...Ah, heck. He probably knows how curious I am about him. _

_ Huh. I’m. I - I want to know more about him? _

This skeleton was really wrecking everything you knew about yourself, huh.

Maybe… maybe you were a bit lonelier than you thought.

Maybe you really, despite everything you kept telling yourself, wanted a friend to talk to.

“...Why d’ya have that bandana on you? You wear it all the time, or, uh. You’ve worn it everytime I’ve spoken to you.”

“A GIFT FROM MY BROTHER!” he answered, instantly beaming. “MY BROTHER IS THE COOLEST. SO THEREFORE, I AM OBLIGATED TO WEAR ANY COOL GIFTS HE GIVES ME FOR!!! EVER!!!”

…

_ Aww. _

So he had a brother, it would seem.

“MY TURN!” he grinned. “DO YOU HAVE A PHONE?”

“Yyyyyyes?” came your wary response. “Why are you asking?”

A cheeky smile. “IS THAT YOUR QUESTION FOR ME?”

...Maybe? Yes? Or no..?

“No,” you decided. “Most monsters have magic, right? And there are different types? So, uh. What kinda magic do you have?”

“I’M PRETTY GOOD AT BLUE MAGIC!” he answered. You paused, combing through your memories. You had read something about the different kinds of magic…

“Uuuuh. The one that affects gravity?” you asked. “Or the one with the thing where the attack is like… you have to stay still when it’s coming at you?”

“WELL, I CAN DO BOTH! THOUGH, GRAVITY MANIPULATION HAS ALWAYS COME MORE NATURALLY TO ME,” he paused to grin knowingly at you. “SOMEONE’S BEEN DOING THEIR RESEARCH, I SEE!”

“...Only ‘cause it’s actually sort of interesting,” you mutter very, very quietly. You weren’t sure if he caught that.

“I CAN ALSO SUMMON BONES OF MY OWN!” he exclaimed, holding out his gloved hand, palm up. You direct your gaze towards it, and surely enough, a little bone just… popped into existance.

Watching it with your very own eyes, it was… well,  _ fascinating _ . Sure, it might’ve seemed lame, seeing as he literally just made one tiny bone appear but!!! It was still interesting nonetheless.

You… do not like the expression on his face. “...I CAN SUMMON THEM WHENEVER I’M FEELING  _ BONELY _ !”

“W h y.”

The only answer you got was his unique laughter.

“Do you just? Talk to the bones you summon?”

“WELL… THEY’RE VERY GOOD FOR CONVERSATION!”

“They’re  _ bones _ . Magic bones that you summon - don’t tell me they, like… talk??”

“OH, THEY DO!” he beamed. “ALL THE TIME, THEY’RE REALLY FUN TO BE AROUND! YOU SEE, LORENZO IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITE BUDDIES. HE’S ALWAYS JOKING ALONG WITH ME!”

“You’re kidding me, right??? You’re not… serious.”

He looked at you, looking  _ very  _ serious.

“What the hell???” you spoke aloud, questioning… a lot of things. Bones?? Talking??? That seems like such a bizarre thing, but…

Is it impossible, with magic?

“MWEHEHEH, YOU SHOULD SEE THE CONFUSED EXPRESSION ON YOUR FACE!” Sans suddenly burst into amused laughter. “I’M MESSING WITH YOU, THEY’RE JUST BONES- PFF..”

Well, if you don’t feel stupid…

“I hate you.”

“AWW, YOU KNOW YOU LOVE ME, PRINCESS!”

“Noooo, I definitely hate you.”

“THEN, WHY ARE YOU STILL TALKING TO ME? YOU SEEM TO BE HAVING FUN, TOO!”

“I deny everything,” you huffed, turning away from him  to hide the small grin on your face. “So!!! It’s your turn to ask!”

“OH, RIGHT! THEN…” he paused, appearing to be thinking rather deeply. “WHAT’S YOUR PHONE NUMBER?”

“Seriously?”

“SERIOUSLY!”

You slowly made yourself sit upright, arching a brow at him.

“SERIOUSLY!! I REALIZED THAT I DON’T HAVE ANY WAY OF CONTACTING YOU, OUTSIDE OF… Y’KNOW, COINCIDENTAL MEETINGS!”

“I’m not answering that one.”

He just smiled widely at you. “THAT’S FINE! I’LL GET IT SOMEDAY! YOU BETTER WATCH OUT, I CAN BE VERY SMOOTH!”

“Pfft, sure you can,” you retorted, sounding as if you didn’t believe him. Except, you fully believed that he could probably convince you if he tried hard enough.

“LOOK FORWARD TO THAT DAY,” he winked at you. “WHERE I WILL!!! VERY SMOOTHLY, LIKE BUTTER, SNATCH THAT PHONE NUMBER FROM YOU.”

“Psh, wanna bet on that?”

“BET!” he smirked at you challengingly. “IF I DO GET THAT NUMBER, YOU HAVE TO ADMIT THAT YOU HAVE!! FALLEN FOR ME! FRIEND-WISE, OBVIOUSLY!”

_ There’s no way that this guy would get my number. _

“Alright, then. You have to…” you trailed off. What  _ did _ you want from him? You.. you didn’t want him to leave. You found yourself liking his company more and more. “...make me your tacos! Once every week!”

Did his eyes turn into literal  _ stars _ ?

“SO YOU DO WANT TO KEEP MEETING UP WITH ME!!” he proclaimed giddily. “AHA!”

“No - that’s not. What I meant! Hold on, I’m taking back what I said-”

“NOOOPE!” he hummed, “YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO! PRINCESS, I HAVE TO SAY, YOU DON’T NEED TO MAKE ME MAKE YOU TACOS BY BETTING! I’D GLADLY MAKE YOU FOOD!”

“I don’t want it!”

“LET’S HEAR YOU SAY THAT WHEN YOU’RE FACED WITH MY IRRESISTIBLE TACOS,” he grinned, poking your arm. “YOU COULDN’T RESIST THEM THE FIRST TIME, YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO RESIST A SECOND TIME!”

Similarly, you poked his arm back. “Is that a challenge? I can easily control myself! You just… caught me at a bad time that day!”

“MWEHEHEH, WE’LL SEE ABOUT THAT.”

This was…

This was good.

You were happy.

And you really couldn’t help that grin forming on your face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jkghewjwehfw idk how i feel about this chapter but yk i'm posting it anyways because i have absolutely no self control and wanna post as much as possible-
> 
> .....which might not be possible soon bc this is my last pre-written chapter i'm still scrambling for ideas for chapter 5 kwjeghwe
> 
> thank you for reading so far~
> 
> ...how to title--


	5. Playgrounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You went outside, expecting to have some alone time. You know, to just... mope around, be miserable. All of that good stuff.
> 
> Except, someone refuses to let you do that.

The wind felt nice. The outdoors was  _ way _ better than your stuffy ol’ house. You were grateful for having a roof over your head..! It was just…

It was so  _ empty _ .

Your parents, when they gave birth to you - well, there wasn’t enough room for you. Not in their little world.

They treated you well enough, but… it was just them being  _ polite _ .

You supposed that was why you were so desperate.

* * *

_ “Hey there! You look lonely.” _

* * *

It wasn’t their fault. It… probably wasn’t yours, either.

But you still felt responsible.

“OH! (Y/N), HELLO! YOU’RE OUT REALLY LATE.”

Huh, was it late?

That was… yeah. It was late - it was starting to get a little dark, you supposed.

You stopped your light swinging, heels digging into the sand a little when you saw someone in front of you.

Sans.

You tried sounding annoyed, “What is it now?”

But your heart really wasn’t in it.

“YOU LOOK LONELY.”

Your heart immediately clenches at the words and you  _ refuse _ to get emotional over some words. Words that had been uttered  _ ages _ ago by that person - no, you were over with it.

“Eh, what else is new?”

It  _ hurt _ . Today was particularly bad.

You couldn’t help but keep thinking of  _ them _ , of your past. The friendly voice, the way that-

...Thinking about it was making it worse.

But you couldn’t help it, you just  _ couldn’t _ .

His grin dipped, and he was now frowning a little.

He didn’t ask what was up; instead, he just sat down on the swing next to you. A silence fell upon the two of you.

Tentatively, you spoke.

“...It’s horrible how so many memories end up being ruined by one.”

You kept your gaze on the sand beneath your shoes, now completely still in your swing.

“Sometimes, I just. I dunno. I hate it.”

_ Aha, what am I doing..? _

You had been talking to this random skeleton you met a few weeks ago. Not even talking to him consistently - just whenever the two of you happened upon one another.

“I wish I could’ve just skipped the whole ‘being a kid’ stage.”

That was when you heard rustling, which finally caused you to look up.

_ Sans isn’t on the swing- _

You let out a yelp as you feel a push, gripping tightly onto the swing as you swung forward.

“Sans, what are you-”

“MWEHEH, I DUNNO. WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?”

“ _ Um _ . Pushing me?” came your confused response. “But wh-yyYYY WOAH-”

You let out a little gasp as he pushed you higher-

...It was kinda fun.

“Pff - okay, okay, you can stop it now-”

And so, he stopped the swing. You listened to his voice behind you as he spoke.

“I SEE, YOU WANT TO MOVE ON NOW!”

“Move on???”

He walked in front of you as you got off of the swing.

Sans grinned, “WHY OF COURSE, PRINCESS! WE  _ ARE _ IN A PLAYGROUND, ARE WE NOT?”

His arms spread out in a dramatic flourish, presenting the rest of the playground behind him. “Sans, this is for  _ kids _ -”

“WHAT? BLASPHEMY,” he snorts in response. “WHO SAID THAT? WHOEVER IT WAS, THEY’RE SORELY WRONG. NOW, LET’S GO!”

Despite the  _ very _ slight smile, you protest weakly, “But - uh - we’ll look silly!”

Sans simply arched a brow. “IS THAT YOUR ONLY CONCERN! WORRY NOT, THERE’S NOBODY HERE. BESIDES, BEING SILLY IS A FUN TIME!”

“...Fine-”

You were surprised as he took your hand in his, pulling you along.

“NOW! WHICH LAND SHALL WE CONQUER FIRST?”

…

Never did you think that you would be atop a slide that was obviously too small for you. You hadn’t thought you would be in this predicament in general, really.

“Pff, Sans, this slide is as tall as I am-”

Sans simply chuckled, “PFFSH, TINY DETAILS. THAT DOESN’T MATTER! NOW, ONTO THE TOP OF THE HILL WE GO!”

Rolling your eyes good-naturedly, you climb up the ladder. Awkwardly, you managed to seat yourself atop the slide. This was definitely something made for little children - 

“Ah?!”

Startled, you felt something push you down. Of course, given the size of the slide, the little trip down lasted less than a second.

“...Geez, Sans, don’t push me down so suddenly,” you huffed, though you could feel yourself smiling.

_ Why am I smiling over something like this? _

Sans simply hummed in amusement, watching you get up and step back as you watched him slide down. “NOW, HOW ABOUT WE GO TO THE MONKEY BARS?”

“Pff, sure, let’s go, you dork.”

The two of you approached the monkey bars - you hadn’t been very good at them the last time you tried. The last time being several years ago.

“Sans-” you snorted, covering your mouth as you laugh quietly, watching him reach up and hang from the bars. His knees were bent as he kept his legs up. “You’re… too tall for the monkey bars.”

Sans was by no means a large monster, but the monkey bars weren’t exactly that high.

“Bet you can’t get across without your feet hitting the ground,” you mused. 

He shot you a challenging stare, “BET ACCEPTED! WATCH ME!”

Much to your amusement, he pulled his legs up higher and actually started to make his way across slowly. Without touching the sand beneath. This was all ridiculous…

But you were really enjoying yourself.

“MWEHEHEH!” Sans grinned widely at you, looking incredibly triumphant. “I HAVE WON THE BET! WHAT DO I GET?”

Blinking, you were caught off guard.

“Ooh, right.”

You had forgotten about the fact that people usually had something to bet with. You sort of just… said it, and he had accepted it.

“Uh, I don’t really know. Make a request - obviously, nothing too unreasonable...”

_ Wait _ . You probably shouldn’t have said that-

“YOUR NUMBER!” he smirked, pulling his phone out from his pocket.

Quickly you shook your head adamantly, the memory of the little challenge in your head. “Noo, you can’t ask for that!”

“OH? BUT YOU SAID TO MAKE A REQUEST!” he pointed out. “AND I DON’T THINK THAT YOUR PHONE NUMBER IS TOO UNREASONABLE!”

“Weell…..”

“WELL?”

“Well.”

“WELL, NOTHING! IT’S ONLY A FEW NUMBERS. YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO GIVE ME IT!”

He tapped a few things on his phone and then showed the screen to you. The contact screen.

“Saaaaaaans-”

He mimicked the way you said his name using your name. “I WON THE BET! I AM CLAIMING MY REWARD!”

You stared unblinking at the skeleton. Said skeleton did the same.

And of course, you blinked first.

_ Why was I trying to stare down a skeleton. Why was I trying to out-stare a skeleton-??? _

“Fine-”

His eyes morphed into literal  _ stars _ .

“But!!” you quickly added on. “No gloating about it, okay??”

“I WOULD NEVER!”

Suspiciously, you eyed him. He simply smiled back at you with that grin of his.

Quickly, you snatched his phone and entered in your number before thrusting it back into his hands. “Okay, that’s done with! Let’s continue conque… running around… uh, doing whatever it is that we’re doing in this playground-”

“MWEHEHEH! YES, LET’S!”

You easily spend the next hours fooling around with the skeleton.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops, feels like it has been forever since i've last uploaded ............
> 
> i'm still here!! and this chapter gave me heck!!!! this chapter feels kinda wkegjhwe to me, yknow?


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